China is major manufacturer of equipment like spiked batons, spiked electric-shock riot forks, electric-shock vests and heavy leg-irons In past month alone, Hong Kong and Sudan have used tear gas against peaceful protesters ‘This secretive trade has gone unregulated for far too long’ - Ara Marcen Naval Spiked batons, stun belts and leg irons are among the gruesome tools of torture which should be banned outright, Amnesty International has said, ahead of a crucial vote on a torture trade resolution at the UN General Assembly tomorrow (Friday 28 June). Adopting the resolution would be a first

Ruling is first time UK court has acknowledged risks of continued arms sales to Saudi Arabia UK has sold more than £4bn of arms to Saudi Arabia since Yemen conflict began ‘We welcome this judgment as a major step towards preventing further bloodshed’ - Lucy Claridge Amnesty International has welcomed a judgment from the Court of Appeal today which has found that the UK Government’s decision to continue licensing exports of military equipment to Saudi Arabia is unlawful. The ruling came in a judicial review brought by Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), which was joined by Amnesty, Human

Three residential districts of Tripoli hit by indiscriminate rocket salvoes, with at least five civilians killed Tajoura migrant detention centre subjected to attacks on 7 and 10 May, while migrants in separate centre shot and injured for refusing to halt Easter prayer service ‘The warring parties have displayed a shameful disregard for civilian safety’ - Magdalena Mughrabi Amnesty International has revealed new evidence of indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas in Tripoli during General Haftar’s forces’ offensive on the Libyan capital, with some of the unlawful attacks likely to amount to

The ‘Bahri Yanbu’, laden with Belgian weapons, docked at Tilbury last week Is now headed to Italy after being blocked by protesters in France ‘Was there a transit licence for this vessel to dock at a UK port?’ - Oliver Feeley-Sprague Responding to the latest news concerning the voyage of a Saudi Arabian vessel - the Bahri Yanbu - laden with arms and currently sailing toward the port of Genoa in Italy, Ara Marcen Naval, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Arms Control and Human Rights, said: “This is a serious test of EU countries’ resolve to uphold their obligations under the Arms

Responding to leaked French military documents published today by an investigative news site highlighting the widespread use of French weapons in the conflict in Yemen, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director, said: “These leaked documents provide clear evidence that French military equipment supplied to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is being widely used in the conflict in Yemen. “The information made public today should spur the French government to immediately suspend all arms transfers that could be used by any of the warring parties in Yemen.

Court of Appeal set to hear case from Campaign Against the Arms Trade - with intervention from Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and Rights Watch UK ‘By selling billions of pounds worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, ministers are signing a death warrant for the people of Yemen’ - Lucy Claridge Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Rights Watch UK will tomorrow join a fresh legal challenge to the UK’s continuing arms exports to Saudi Arabia The three organisations are intervening in a case brought by Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) at the Court of Appeal in London seeking to challenge the

Fighter jet’s missiles said ‘Made in Britain, ruining lives in Yemen’ ‘While UK arms companies are making money, Yemeni civilians are dying in their thousands’ - Kate Allen **PHOTOS AVAILABLE** here (credit: Jon Cornejo, Amnesty International UK) Amnesty International activists have taken a lifelike replica of a Eurofighter Typhoon jet - and accompanying missiles - to the Houses of Parliament this morning in protest at the UK’s continuing sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. The week sees the fourth anniversary of the devastating conflict in Yemen, a conflict which the UK’s sale of arms - worth

UK opposes ban, saying it would ‘prejudice legitimate technological advances’ ‘We need to act quickly to prevent the unleashing of this nightmarish new wave of weapons’ - Oliver Feeley-Sprague More than three in five people across 26 countries oppose the development of autonomous weapons that could select and kill targets without human intervention, according to a new Campaign to Stop Killer Robots poll published today. The Ipsos MORI poll found that in the 26 countries surveyed: *More than three in every five people (61%) oppose the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems. *Two

‘2019 needs to be the year the UK finally does the right thing and ends its shameful Saudi arms shipments’ - Kate Allen Amnesty International has renewed its longstanding call on the UK Government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of the risk that UK weapons will be used to commit war crimes in conflict-ravaged Yemen. The call comes as Amnesty releases a hard-hitting animated video highlighting the UK’s failure to abide by its own arms exports control systems. While ministers have repeatedly claimed the UK has among the world’s “toughest” or “most rigorous” arms controls, Amnesty’s